The Pittsburgh Steelers fell to the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday night by a score of 20-17. It was a heartbreaking loss for Pittsburgh as Dallas took the lead with less than 30 seconds to go in the game. Neither side of the ball was perfect for the Steelers, but the loss ultimately falls on the offense. The Steelers’ defense forced three takeaways and blocked a field goal, but the offense couldn’t find ways to produce more points and beat the Cowboys.
The passing game suffered on Sunday night as Justin Fields managed to throw for only 131 yards in the game. Fields definitely didn’t play great, but his best offensive weapon in George Pickens wasn’t even on the field for a lot of the offensive snaps for Pittsburgh. Mike Tomlin gave a weird response as to why after the game ended, but teams don’t just not play their best receiver, like the Steelers did in Week 5.
Pickens’ father took to social media following the game where he slammed the offense and the usage of his son.
Pittsburgh’s offense had everything handed to them in this contest and should have been able to win the game. The unit just couldn’t sustain drives as they converted on third down just 25 percent of the time. It is hard to win a game when the offense isn’t on the field to score points.
The offense didn’t turn the ball over at all for the Steelers, but they only managed to put up 226 yards of total offense. It is difficult for any team to win a football game while having that kind of offensive production.
Pickens caught just three passes for 26 yards during the Week 5 game, while being targeted seven times. He didn’t really make an impact until late in the fourth quarter when he caught a 21-yard pass from Fields. By that point, his father was angry at his lack of involvement.
The offense struggled to stretch the field during the contest, and if Pickens had been on the field more, that probably wouldn’t have been an issue. This game also showcased just how badly Pittsburgh needs another starting-caliber wide receiver. Fields had plenty of time to throw, but receivers were struggling to get any separation.
Steelers’ Arthur Smith Gets Blamed For The Big Loss
This was a very winnable game for Pittsburgh. The team seemed to be playing conservative at times. On the offense’s first drive of the game, they had a third and eight from the 28-yard line, meaning they were already in field goal position. Instead of being aggressive and trying to get the first down, they ran a toss play to the outside for five yards and seemed content to kick the field goal. This is the kind of conservative play-calling from Arthur Smith that will lose games.
Pittsburgh’s winning formula is hunkering down on defense and not losing the game on offense. This means no turnovers, and taking whatever points are given to you. A good NFL team would have tried to get the first down on third and eight on the door step of the red zone. A touchdown instead of a field goal on that possession would have been the difference in the game, and the Steelers would be 4-1 rather than 3-2.
